This award was previously won by Mabunda’s central midfield partner, captain fantastic Hlompho Kekana.
“I want to help the team win more trophies,” Mabunda said after receiving the award. “I want to help the team win the Champions League for a second time. I want to help the team go back to the Fifa Club World Cup and do well, hopefully win the Club World Cup as well. I believe that all things are possible for the ones who believe. That’s what the bible tells me.”
“I believe that if we as a team believe that we can do it, then I know that we can do it – go back to the Club World Cup and do better than we did in the past. I know that we are destined for greatness as a team. There is so much positive energy and hunger to succeed at Mamelodi Sundowns, even the new players already see that it’s not the same like it was where they were in the past. They can see that there is a winning mentality within the team. Every game that we play, we play to win. We might not win all the games but the desire to be successful is massive in this team.”
The Brazilians host Free State Stars at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday. Stars sit in fourth place, six points behind Sundowns. Mabunda is confident that Sundowns will keep their place at the top until the end of the season.
“It’s easy for anybody to go to the top,” Mabunda said. “The difficult part is staying there. We know that last season we made a couple of mistakes that cost us the league.”
“This year we are in a similar position. But we have told ourselves that we can’t afford to make the same mistakes we made last year. We know that in the remaining games we have a process as a team of how we can win the league and we are focusing on that process more than the outcome. If we do the right things and the process goes according to plan, then the rest will follow. Winning the league will take care of itself. We just need to focus on the plans that we have as a team. I have learned that the moment the pressure comes from outside, that’s when people lose it. But if the pressure from within is greater than the pressure from outside, then everything fall into place. I believe that we are on the right track. We have a healthy lead between us and the other teams. We know that it’s not going to be easy but we have a strong team that can push us until the end.”
